Review: The Red and the Black

The Red and the Black by Stendhal
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A Wattpad friend introduced me to this old classic of French literature. It's from roughly the time of Les Mis, but is far less expansive in scope as it follows one principal character. It's lined with satire on the sociopolitical climate of the time, particularly where the Church is concerned, and it runs on the assumption that men of the cloth are, by default, hypocritical characters only concerned with looking important and knowledgeable and classy in their own way.

In other words, it's a tragedy.

Like many classics, it's a dense read, but in all honesty, I'd much rather see this in high school English classes than any Les Mis. Let's face it, teenagers might have a better time connecting to Julien Sorel and his lofty dreams of wanting much more than this provincial life - dreams that will prove so much harder to fulfill than one might think.

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